National Road Rally 2008

See my other blog for full details.

Christian Aid 2008

Next week is Christian Aid Week – the week when Christians from all the churches in the country will be knocking on doors and asking people to donate to this very worthy charity. I was recently speaking to some people from my church who have been collecting for this cause for many years. I was surprised to find that few of them enjoy the job of walking round the parish, knocking on doors and begging for donations to help the poorest people in the world. Most of them, it seems, do the job because it’s a job worth doing, and not because they enjoy it. One person commented that door-to-door collecting is a very old fashioned way of raising money. Christian Aid is one of very few charities who still fund themselves in this way.

So this year they've decided to use some new technology to support this very worthy cause. If you would like to make a donation to Christian Aid without someone having to come out to knock on your door and ask you to fill an envelope with cash, then use our fund raising page to make a donation with your credit- or debit card. It’s a simple transaction – just click the “Donate” button on the widget above to visit the virtual door-to-door collection page. They don't guarantee that you won’t also get a call from a collector; but if you tell them you’ve already donated on-line I'm sure they’ll be delighted to leave without the traditional envelope full of cash.

Why can’t they just apologise

Have you ever complained about something? Have you ever had your complaint taken seriously? Or do you just get fobbed off? I’ve found an increasingly common response to any complaint is “well you’re the first complaint we’ve ever had” with this implication that it’s good enough for everyone else, so you can bloody well put up with it too.

Here’s an example: a website called Intelligent Giving. It’s a very interesting website, and I may well do a post about them. But the site includes a feature they call the “Karma Calculator”. In essence, you answer a brief questionnaire and the calculator generates some insults, hiding behind the excuse of being “light-hearted”. I found it utterly offensive, so I wrote to complain as follows:

"I like your website and find the information you give very interesting. However, I did not like your 'karma calculator' one bit. I appreciate that it is intended to be "light hearted", but to be honest, I don't find sarcastic insults very funny. I am not confused - just in search of the type of information that your site seems to contain; I do understand the difference between philanthropy and misanthropy; and I do not appreciate being compared to a character from an odious American cartoon show. I suggest you re-write this nasty piece of software before you alienate any more of your potential customers."

Their response:

“Thanks for getting in touch. I'm sorry you don't like our Karma Calculator. However, over 6,000 people have used the Calculator since our site launched and yours is the first complaint we have received. We believe it fulfils its function as a light-hearted spur to giving.

I hope you profit from using other areas of our site.”

OK, so they used the “S” word, but did they take on board what I said? But they’re doing their best to do a good job, so look them up and read what’s on their site. Just steer clear of that “Karma” thingy. http://www.intelligentgiving.com/

Honey from Africa

I recently came across a charity called Hives Save Lives Africa (HSLA)which seeks to help people in developing countries to develop independence by providing them with beekeeping equipment and training. Traditional African honey production techniques are several hundred years behind western methods, which results in a honey with a smoky flavour (caused, they argue, but the excessive use of smoke in the harvesting process) that is difficult to sell on the world market and fetches a low price. HSLA argue that if they can provide African apiculturalists with the hardware and knowledge to produce top quality honey, they can increase income from bees and provide more independence.

I bought those arguments and donated some cash to HSLA. I then wondered what African honey would taste like, so I set out to find some in Waitrose. There I found a jar of Tropical Forest Honey, a fair-trade label with a different take on the African honey situation. Tropical Forest buy the honey from the traditional honey harvesters, smoky flavour and all. I tried it, and sure enough it does taste of smoke! The Tropical Forest view is that the smoky flavour is natural; not caused by harvesting – they put it down to the presence of pollens which the western pallet is not used to. They use this flavour as a unique selling point, claiming that it is enjoyed by true honey connoisseur. They argue that the traditional methods are better suited to the African situation, with lack of infrastructure and lack of capital making western-style honey production impractical and inappropriate.

So here are two opposing views of African development through honey production: the HSLA approach of giving hardware and knowledge to allow honey farmers to produce western style honey to compete on the open world market; and the Tropical Forest approach of buying the low quality product produced by traditional apiculture and trying to find a market for it in the west. The HSLA approach could be accused of forcing western style development on situations where it is not appropriate. The Tropical Forest approach could be accused of creating a dependency on a small market which will limit future development. Ultimately the judgement has to be which is the most effective at providing poor communities with an independent and reliable source of income.

Meanwhile the Tropical Forest honey jar languishes in my cupboard, half-finished, while I’ve gone through several kg of English and French honey and a several jars of - my favourite addition to yoghurt – acacia blossom honey from various countries. I can‘t see myself buying any more of the Tropical Forest honey in a hurry; but I’d love to know what the honey from the HSLA projects tastes like.